Tag Archives: UCSC

Post navigation

We move like cagey tigersWe couldn’t get closer than thisThe way we walkThe way we talkThe way we stalkThe way we kissWe slip through the streetsWhile everyone sleepsGetting bigger and sleekerAnd wider and brighterWe bite and scratch and scream all nightLet’s go and throwAll the songs we know

Into the seaYou and meAll these years and no one heardI’ll show you in springIt’s a treacherous thingWe missed you hissed the lovecatsWe missed you hissed the lovecats

We’re so wonderfully wonderfully wonderfullyWonderfully pretty!Oh you know that I’d do anything for youWe should have each other to tea huh?We should have each other with creamThen curl up by the fireAnd sleep for awhileIt’s the grooviest thingIt’s the perfect dream

Into the seaYou and meAll these years and no one heardI’ll show you in springIt’s a treacherous thingWe missed you hissed the lovecatsWe missed you hissed the lovecatsWe missed you hissed the lovecatsWe missed you hissed the lovecats

We’re so wonderfully wonderfully wonderfullyWonderfully pretty!You know that I’d do anything for youWe should have each other to dinnerWe should have each other with creamThen curl up in the fireGet up for awhileIt’s the grooviest thingIt’s the perfect dream

Hand in handIs the only way to landAnd always the right way roundNot broken in piecesLike hated little meecesHow could we missSomeone as dumb as this?

I love you, let’s goOh, solid goneHow could we miss Someone as dumb as this?

Ann O’Reilly (nee Collins) RIP

Use the links below to FOLLOW and LIKE us on other social media!RIGHT CLICK and “OPEN IN NEW WINDOW” TO VIEW LINKS>

And we are back! We went to the Hollywood Bowl last week and it was good fun! We’re having a heatwave again in Los Angeles and it’s been 90 degrees+ and into the 100s on some days. So, it has stayed warm at night and it was really perfect weather for an outdoor concert.

“West Side Story” at the Hollywood Bowl

Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra performing “West Side Story” at the Hollywood Bowl on a Tuesday evening in July!

“West Side Story” at the Hollywood Bowl

We were invited to the Bowl again. Well, there was a “small” brush fire on the mountain across the 101 freeway at Cahuenga Blvd from the venue at 4pm and we watched on the television as the Los Angeles Fire Department responded and made quick work of it!

Fire on the Mountain! (That yellow dot is three firefighters)

By 5:30pm the fire was out, they were handling the hot spots and traffic was f*cked. So we left the San Fernando Valley for Hollywood at about 6pm. After some miles of “stop and go” traffic, the Highland exit ramp jam and Lot B parking ($20 cash) we were walking past the crowd of picnickers that occupy any convenient spot they can find out front at 7pm.

Picnickers Out Front at the Hollywood Bowl for “West Side Story”

NOTE: It wasn’t as crowded as usual! It was a Tuesday night and a lot of people must have stayed home to watch the Republican National Convention night #2 from Cleveland, Ohio. Of course, that meant more people arrived around 8pm as the performance was starting…

We decided to go directly to our seats (Super Seats! not benches) behind the light and sound booth and have our dinner there instead of going to one of the picnic areas. And picnicking at the Hollywood Bowl in the super seats or bench seating is even more of a challenge than dining in one of the boxes because you have no table and very limited space.

Picnic time! On the Menu: Roast beef sandwich, veggie chips, dill pickle, bottled water and 1/4 of a chocolate tart from Sweet Lady Jane. We remembered to take a pic just before finishing the sandwich, but didn’t take one of the sides and desserts. We also brought red and white wine, a bottle of bubbly water, carrots, cole slaw, a rice dish and a berry cobbler.

Roast Beef Sandwich and Veggie Chips

Show time! The orchestra took the stage a little after 8pm, just as the sun was setting. They always begin with the “Star Spangled Banner” (note the flags flying at half mast).

“West Side Story” at the Hollywood Bowl

Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic performing under a full moon on a warm summer evening in Southern California, no complaints here.

“West Side Story”

The musical “West Side Story” has special meaning for us. We participated in building and and presenting a production on the Performing Arts MainStage at UC Santa Cruz in Spring of 1986.

Directed by Michael Edwards
I was a Set Builder, Costumer and then Wardrobe Master for the run of show.
I also did the hair/makeup and hand inked tattoos for the actors.

The Jets were “Glam Punks” circa early 1980’s in ripped denim and studded leather.
The Sharks were 1970’s “Cholos” complete with bandanas, pleated flannels, pressed white t-shirts and tan khakis. The Shark girls were hot!

A truly professional production with a live band, great singing and dancing and a truly amazing set design! The program cover above is one of the design sketches, but the freeway was left unfinished with exposed rebar extending out over the audience and then we added chain link fencing, lots of graffiti and debris for texture.

CLICK ON ANY SMALL PIC TO SEE A LARGER PIC AND VIEW THE GALLERY!

Very proud of this production and the work we did. Also of note is the level of talent and the future professional career paths of some of the participants.

50 years ago, Dec 4, 1965: Jerry, Bob, Phil, Bill & Pigpen first played music as the Grateful Dead, the house band for Ken Kesey and the Merry Prankster’s Acid Test in San Jose, California!

Can You Pass the Acid Test? Nov 27, 1965 at Ken Babbs’ Chicken Farm

“This is a One-of-A-Kind Poster, hand drawn, and not mass distributed for the event. It is likely the only one made, or at least, the only one that survived. At this point in the early acid test days, Posters and handbills were not being used to advertise events. Instead, small Posters were placed up in local coffee shops and hangouts around town, of which there were several up and down the bay, but the most prominent of these was a little place called the Catalyst. At the time, it was a lively coffee shop, but now it has moved up the street and small bands play there, as it has been turned into a club. This particular item was taken down by someone from the Catalyst Coffee Shop at the time. I spoke to Lee Quarnstrom, who worked at the Hip Pocket Bookstore in ’65, and lived at the Spread, and attended the event. Lee stated something extremely revealing to me in a private conversation when I visited with him. Lee stated, “The Hip Pocket Bookstore and the Catalyst were connected together. A person could walk from one to the other without ever going outside or leaving the building.” This statement reveals a lot. What it means is that this Poster could be the main advertising and only advertising for the first Acid Test event, besides the sign Norman Hartweg tacked onto the board that belonged to Babbs. Or maybe this was the sign? Either way, in my opinion, this is the most important piece of Acid Test history to survive. Truly Miraculous!”

The next acid test took place fifty years ago in the wee hours of Dec. 4, 1965 at Big Nig’s house, a rambling old Edwardian near downtown San Jose, after the Rolling Stones had played a show at the San Jose Civic Auditorium, a 3000 seat venue built in 1934, with the Dead and Kesey’s gang in attendance. After the Stones’ concert, the Pranksters passed out Crayon-lettered handbills for a house party. Their cryptic message was a street address and the words: “Can YOU Pass the Acid Test?” About 300 to 400 people showed up and the Grateful Dead played until the police broke up the party.

“NO LEFT TURN UNSTONED!”

The First Acid Tests in 1965

27 November; Santa Cruz (Ken Babbs’ Chicken Farm in Soquel), California (first performance by the Grateful Dead, still known as the Warlocks)

Congratulations! We received your decorated envelope and you have won two free passes to the MAH and our Dear Jerry Exhibition. Your envelope was also chosen as one of our favorite entrees, so you have also won a copy of “Dead Letters” by Paul Grushkin. All will be available to pick up at will call (the museum front desk 🙂

Fare thee well,

Marcus

—

Marcus Frost

Director of Development & Communications

Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History

831.429.1964 x7031

UPDATE 15 September 2015 – I visited the museum on my August Road Trip to pick it up, but the book had been put in an office for safekeeping and could not be found, so they mailed it to me yesterday. I also walked into an amazing flower show at the museum on the day I was there!

MAH! Museum of Art & History at the McPherson Center in Santa Cruz

Thank you! Thank you MAH!

“Dead Letters” Book by Paul Grushkin

When I was in Santa Cruz, I was able to get a few “Dear Jerry” promotional postcards too.

Here’s my year in review. My Blogs (see previous blogs) and Facebook posts (Joshua Weisel & JoshWillTravel) have stories, details and cool pictures for most events! Please check them out by following the links at the bottom of the page.

Box Seats for Four Great Summer Concerts at the Hollywood Bowl! Joshua Bell & Friends, Yo-Yo Ma and a nice Dinner on the patio at Patina, Beethoven (with Dudamel and the L.A. Phil doing the 5th Symphony) and “HAIR!”

Great vacation! Saw old friends and family, visited UCSC and the Grateful Dead Special Collection, celebrated my father’s birthday and saw some great theatre in Ashland (“The Tempest”, “Richard III” and “The Cocoanuts”), partied in Reno, relaxed at Lakeland Village in South Lake Tahoe, and drove scenic US Highway 395 south to L.A.

(I’m still working on finishing the Road Trip Blogs! Please be patient.)

South Lake Tahoe Sunset (copyright 2014 JoshWillTravel)

November – December

Thanksgiving 2014 – The Feast! (Our annual family food fest)

Thanksgiving 2014 – The Feast! (copyright 2014 JoshWillTravel)

Thanksgiving 2014 – Dessert! (copyright 2014 JoshWillTravel)

Otis Redding RIP Dec 18, 2014 – Had to say goodbye to the old boy, very sad.

“He was a great dog. He had a good life. May the Four Winds blow him safely home.”

Otis Redding RIP

Dinner at the Border Grill & “Blithe Spirit” with Angela Landsbury at the Ahmanson Theatre

I was hoping to get an early start and then spend the day in Santa Cruz, but we were delayed and didn’t get going until almost noon. Ann drove us over Highway 17, through the Santa Cruz mountains and up to the University of California, Santa Cruz campus and McHenry Library. Our destination, the Grateful Dead Special Collection.

UC Santa Cruz’s McHenry Library is the home of the Grateful Dead Special Collection. The current exhibit is the “Words of the Grateful Dead”. You’re not supposed to take pictures, but here’s one of the exhibit hall showcasing many literary works. The archive is available online.

The Grateful Dead Archive Online (GDAO) is a socially constructed collection comprised of over 45,000 digitized items drawn from the UCSC Library’s extensive Grateful Dead Archive (GDA) and from digital content submitted by the community and global network of Grateful Dead fans. The Grateful Dead Archive Online: www.gdao.org

See my previous blogs for the previous exhibit: the Art of the Grateful Dead

We toured the rest of the library, wandered around for awhile, and then drove around the campus.

We were hungry and drove through Santa Cruz to the Seabright Brewery in Capitola by the Sea. When we got there, the national league playoff game was on the TV. So, we enjoyed our lunch with a room full of happy San Francisco Giants fans.

“In these lovely surroundings will be built the University of California, Santa Cruz, a new kind of university campus powered by new ideas that are already attracting the attention of the academic world.” ~UC President Clark Kerr, April 17, 1964

University of California, Santa Cruz

On April 17, 1964, nearly 2,000 people gathered to witness the dedication of UC Santa Cruz—the UC system’s newest campus. UC President Clark Kerr was on hand, along with founding UCSC chancellor Dean McHenry, then-Gov. Edmund G. “Pat” Brown, state senators, city and county officials, and many UC Regents.

It’s been over 30 years since I made my first trip to Santa Cruz!

Take Highway 17 from San Jose through the Santa Cruz Mountains to the Pacific Ocean

Highway 17 to Santa Cruz! (copyright 2013 JoshWillTravel)

Take Highway 1 along the coast from Half Moon Bay, Pacifica and San Francisco in the north or Monterey Bay, Big Sur, Castroville and Watsonville in the south

Happy New Year! The Champagne is Chilling! (copyright 2013 JoshWillTravel)

Another year in the history books, and since it’s my blog, here’s my past year in review. (RIGHT CLICK the links and OPEN A NEW WINDOW to read my blog stories and see more pictures from each event!)

In December 2012, we got a new Cavachon puppy, so all year long it was the Year of the “Little Fuzz Ball”, as she grew up, was loved, learned to be good dog, caused (mostly minor) trouble, and was just plain adorable everyday!

January 11th – I saw a shooting star! I was outside and looked up at the clear night sky and thought “Gee, it would really be cool to see a shooting star”. And as if on cue, the most amazing shooting star I have ever seen came blazing from the heavens exactly where I was looking. It was awesome and it kind of freaked me out too.

Leaving on a (prop) jet plane! Since this is a travel blog, I’m going to share my travel experiences from the past year. Horizon Air – Alaska Air (codeshare) LAX to Medford, Oregon for a winter visit. There was a little snow in the morning the first day I was there.

Other notable meals: Dinner at Mozza Osteria in Hollywood, Dinner at Beazy’s on the Creek in Ashland, Birthday Dinner at Arnie Morton’s, Sushi at Sushi Ichiban Kan and Okumura Sushi in the San Fernando Valley, Lunch at the Four Season’s Westlake Village and On Sunset at the LUXE on Sunset, Brunch at Bistro Gardens, and many great buffets and food presentations at the wonderful hotel events I attended this year (read about them and see the pictures in my previous blogs). The “worst meal of the year” loser award goes to the dinner at the MGM Grand Buffet in Las Vegas, everything was overcooked and underseasoned.

I also attended a couple of great Concerts at the Hollywood Bowl this summer.

Hollywood Bowl (copyright 2013 JoshWillTravel)

Hollywood Bowl – Hollywood, CA (copyright 2013 JoshWillTravel)

Here are video samples (but you might have to be my friend on facebook to see them):

Family Thanksgiving! (and Hannukah 2013) Family, friends, football and a feast!

Thanksgiving 2013 (copyright 2013 JoshWillTravel)

Thanksgiving 2013 (copyright 2013 JoshWillTravel)

Finally got an iPhone! Please note the improved picture quality.

December –

GO BRONCOS! It was a great year to be a Denver Broncos fan because it was a great year for the Denver Broncos and Peyton Manning!

GO BRONCOS! www.denverbroncos.com

The Broncos clinched the AFC West Division with 13 wins, 3 losses and broke a new record every week including the record for the NFL’s highest scoring team during the regular season. Peyton Manning has thrown a touchdown pass in 39 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the NFL. https://www.facebook.com/DenverBroncos

UPDATED March 2, 2017
Our good friend Ann O’Reilly (nee Collins) passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on February 22, 2017. Our thoughts are with her family and friends who loved her. We are shocked and saddened by her death and really can’t adequately express our feelings here.

LUXURY TRAVEL ADVISOR, TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE WRITER/BLOGGER

"Your Travel is Our Business!"
I hope that by sharing my journeys and experiences you will be inspired to embark on your own travel adventures. This blog is interactive, so please join in.
I welcome your questions, feedback, comments and emails.